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Everton v Leicester City (EFL Cup 2019-20)
| next = }} Everton v Leicester City was a match which took place at the Goodison Park on Tuesday 17 December 2019. Leicester City survived a second-half Everton comeback to win 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw and set up a Carabao Cup semi-final with Aston Villa. The Foxes had raced ahead with two goals in three first-half minutes from James Maddison and Jonny Evans. But Tom Davies got Everton back into it with a volley before Leighton Baines' strike meant a shootout was needed. Kasper Schmeichel made two saves before Jamie Vardy converted the decisive penalty to send Leicester through. Victory means the Foxes have reached the League Cup semi-finals for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign, when they went on to win the trophy. Leicester will host Aston Villa in the first leg of the semi-final in the week commencing 6 January. It was a dramatic end to a game that Leicester had looked unlikely to lose for an hour, with the Foxes comfortable at 2-0 up. The win will have come as a relief for boss Brendan Rodgers, whose team selection suggested he sees this competition as a realistic route to a trophy, despite his side sitting second in the Premier League. Rodgers made just three changes for the game, despite upcoming league fixtures against Manchester City and leaders Liverpool, and the Foxes came flying out of the traps as they attacked with pace and precision. Everton's two second-half goals would, on the face of it, suggest a worrying capitulation, particularly after Leicester were held by Norwich at the weekend. But in truth, they should have been out of sight long before Everton got back into the game, with Ayoze Perez seeing a powerful long-range strike tipped over by Jordan Pickford before the Toffees keeper denied Dennis Praet with his feet. In the end they got the job done with the reliable Vardy coolly despatching his penalty to put Leicester into the last four. It appears increasingly likely that Carlo Ancelotti will be the next Everton boss, with reports on Wednesday strongly suggesting the Italian has agreed a deal to take charge of the club. Caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson has certainly done an admirable job of clearing the doom and gloom around the club after they slipped perilously close to the relegation zone under previous incumbent Marco Silva. The Toffees legend has overseen a win against Chelsea and a credible draw at Manchester United, and against Leicester the improved work rate was once again evident. Even after going two goals down they did not give up and when Davies volleyed home in the second half the 39,000-strong crowd roared the home side on to grab an equaliser. Ultimately they fell just short of victory but Everton's players showed a fight and desire that has been missing for large parts of the season and that alone will have sent many Toffees fans home happy. Match Details Baines |team2=Leicester City (1) |goals2=Maddison Evans |penalties1 =Tosun Baines Holgate Calvert-Lewin |penaltyscore = 2–4 |penalties2 = Maddison Chilwell Pereira Gray Vardy |stadium=Goodison Park |location=Liverpool |attendance=39,027 |referee=Jonathan Moss }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} Match Stats Match Stats= {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- !width=130|Overall !width=70|Everton !width=70|Leicester City |- !scope=row|Goals scored |2||2 |- !scope=row|Total shots |9||13 |- !scope=row|Shots on target |3||5 |- !scope=row|Ball possession |44%||56% |- !scope=row|Corner kicks |5||6 |- !scope=row|Fouls committed |10||10 See also *EFL Cup 2019-20 External links * Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2019-20 Match Day info Category:Everton F.C. matches Category:Leicester City F.C. matches